NH Home Sales Continue To Surge, Price Gap Narrows

July home sales were substantially ahead of the pace from a year ago for the seventh consecutive month, according to data released this week by the New Hampshire Association of Realtors (NHAR).

The median price of those July sales, meanwhile, was within $1,000 of the median price in July 2011, further evidence, according to NHAR, that values are stabilizing.

“This data supports what we’re seeing in our day-to-day interactions,” said NHAR President John Rice, a 40-year veteran of the real estate industry and an agent with Tate & Foss Sotheby’s International Realty in Rye.

“We’re seeing more and more multiple offers all the time,” he said. “It seems buyers really are getting the picture that conditions are pretty close to ideal right now, and as a result they are becoming ever more aggressive in terms of purchasing.”

Each month in 2012 has seen a double-digit gain in terms of unit sales compared to the same period in 2011.Residential sales in July hit 1,260, which is 20 percent higher than the 1,052 sold in July 2011. That’s been a relatively consistent trend, as the 7,044 homes sold through July 31 is 20 percent higher than the 5,851 sold in through the first seven months of 2011.

In the state’s largest county, Hillsborough, July home sales were 21 percent ahead of a year ago, and 25percent up for the first seven months combined.

The median price of New Hampshire homes sold in July 2012 was $215,000, just a half-percent lower than the $216,000 median sale price in July 2011.

Inventory data continues to point toward stabilizing median prices trends as well. For the third consecutive month, the state months’ supply number was in single digits.

“Months’ supply” is the number of months it would take to sell off the current housing inventory at the current rate of sales. Typically, six or seven months is considered a balanced market, while less than that is asellers’ market and more is a buyers’ market.

The last five years have been decidedly a buyers’ market, with months’ supply reaching as high as 22 months,but July showed 9 months’ supply, following 9 months’ supply in May and 9.4 months’ supply in June.

“It’s simple economics,” Rice said. “Less supply, greater demand.”

In terms of local markets, eight of the state’s 10 counties saw a July increase in unit sales, and all 10 have seen double-digit percent increases in the first seven months combined, compared to that of last year.